Report Thai and Cambodian Soldiers in Stand-Off After Border Gunfire Exchange

[snoop1130]

File photo for reference only

 

A tense stand-off unfolded between Thai and Cambodian soldiers in a disputed border area in Ubon Ratchathani province following a brief exchange of gunfire on Wednesday morning. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported in the incident.

 

The confrontation took place near Chong Bok in Nam Yuen district around 5:30 am, involving soldiers from both nations in a contested territory. According to reports, Cambodian soldiers began digging a trench in the disputed zone, an action that escalated tensions.

 

Lt Gen Boonsin Padklang, who oversees the region as the commander of the 2nd Army, stated that Thai soldiers on routine patrol observed the Cambodian soldiers making changes to the landscape and asked them to halt their activities. The situation quickly escalated when the Cambodian forces reportedly opened fire, prompting a brief but intense exchange of shots.

 

Efforts to de-escalate the situation have involved local authorities on both sides engaging in dialogue. Lt Gen Boonsin emphasized the need for soldiers from both nations to return to their original positions and await higher-level discussions to resolve the territorial dispute.

 

Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai pointed out that this was not the first instance of Cambodian soldiers digging in the area. Thai forces observed them securing the newly dug trench, leading to the gunfire exchange prompted by concerns for self-defense and protection of sovereignty.

 

In the aftermath of the clash, communication was established between military officers close to the Cambodian Defence Minister and Thai Deputy Defence Minister Gen Natthapon Nakpanich to reduce tensions. Despite the gunfire ceasing, forces from both sides remain in the area to monitor the situation closely.

 

Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree, spokesperson for the Thai army, explained that the Cambodian soldiers' actions violated prior agreements, leading to misunderstandings that contributed to the brief skirmish. Following about ten minutes of gunfire, local military leaders managed to negotiate a ceasefire via phone, although troops from both countries continue to hold their positions.

 

The incident comes after efforts earlier this month where military officials from both countries discussed troop withdrawals from another disputed site, Prasat Ta Muen Thom temple in Surin province, an indication of ongoing territorial tensions. The current standoff serves as a reminder of the complexities and sensitivity surrounding these border disputes and the importance of diplomatic channels in seeking peaceful resolutions.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-05-28

 

 

[ukrules]

Don't they have anything real to actually do?

[Kerryd]

That area is right at the junction of the borders of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

Kind of a "poor man's Golden Triangle".

And there doesn't really appear to be anything there at all, unlike at Ta Muen where there are large Khmer temple complexes and at Phra Vihear (or "Khao Phra Viharn" in Thai), which has been the site of a couple clashes between the Thais and Cambodians - thanks to a mapping error by the French when they surveyed the border between Thailand and their colonies in SE Asia (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) back in the early 1900s.

When you visit some of those sites you'll find both sides have military detachments stationed in the area and in some cases they've "dug in" (trenches, bunkers, machine-gun emplacements). 

I visited Ta Muen and Phra Viharn a couple years ago. At each spot as I wandered around a soldier was assigned to follow me "just in case".

At Ta Muen, there's a small open area at the south side of the main temple and a dirt track leads through the trees into Cambodia where they have a military detachment barely 50 meters away.
(That's why the Thais had a soldier follow me around, in case I tried to go down that track - or in case someone on the Cambodian side took a pot shot at me I guess.)

At Phra Viharn, I was charged 400 baht to enter (40 for Thais of course) and told I could visit the temple. Yeah right. There was a triple coil concertina (razor wire) barricade that ran across the edge of the open area a hundred meters from the base of the steps leading up to the temple.

And as I walked past the military camp, again a soldier was tasked to follow me around to make sure I didn't do anything stupid - or in case some numpty on the other side did.

That was a long ride just to take a photo of some steps going up a hill a hundred meters away.

(But the Buddha carvings in the side of a cliff a few hundred meters away were kind of nice. Gives you a nice view of the flat plains of Cambodia and you can understand how they marked the border. It pretty much follows the edge of the "high ground", with the land at the top being "Thai" and the flat lands at the base being "Cambodia".

Except when they got to Phra Viharn for some reason they drew the border across the small "dip" between the high ground and the hill the temple sits on. 
By rights, the border should have gone round that hill and it should have been Thai territory.

But whether the French surveyor was lazy and just drew the border straight across at that point or if he deliberately cut that hill off for some reason, we'll never know.

And the problem is - Thailand never argued that point until decades later and because of that, the International Court sided with Cambodia. (At least twice now.)

That seems to have emboldened the Cambodians into trying to claim more of the ancient Khmer temples that were built along the high ground.

And even if both sides agreed to have a neutral "3rd party" group of professional cartographers and surveyors remap the border properly, neither side would accept the results unless they favoured their side anyways so it would be pointless.
But would give one side or the other the legal claim on any ancient sites on their side of the revised border.

(Note there are some in Cambodia who seem to think that a large portion of Sa Kaeo province should be considered a part of Cambodia as well, stemming back to when there were large refugee camps full of Cambodians living there after fleeing the Khmer Rouge civil war.)

And of course, much of that area was Khmer, then Cambodian (French Indo-China), then Thai, then back to Cambodia. Chanthaburi and Trat were occupied by France up to 1907 when the Franco-Siamese treaty saw Thailand give up 3 provinces in Cambodia (including (Battambang, Siem Reap and Serei Saophoan) in exchange for France returning Chanthaburi and Trat to Siam.
Thailand briefly regained control over some of that territory in the early stages of WW2 when Thai forces easily defeated the Cambodian/French troops (less the major defeat of the Thai navy at the battle of Ko Chang). The Japanese mediated a settlement where Thailand regained only about 40% of the territory it had lost to France in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

But as a part of the post-war agreements, Thailand was forced to return those territories back to Laos and Cambodia in exchange for not being considered a belligerent in the war and ally of Japan. Britain apparently disagreed with the decision and France blocked Thailand from joining the newly formed United Nations until those territories were returned.

And here we are over 75 years later and they are still ready to go to war over it. At least some of them are. On both sides.